Malo znamo al je znano
Iza gore iza dola
Iza sedam iza osam
I još huđe i još luđe
Preko gorkih preko mornih
Preko gloga preko drače
Preko žege preko stege
Preko slutnje preko sumnje
Iza devet iza deset
Tamo dolje ispod zemlje
I onamo ispod neba
I još dublje i još jače
Iza šutnje iza tmače
Gdje pijetlovi ne pjevaju
Gdje se ne zna za glas roga
I još huđe i još luđe
Iza uma iza boga
Ima jedna modra rijeka
Široka je duboka je
Sto godina široka je
Tisuć ljeta duboka jest
O duljini i ne sanjaj
Tma i tmuša neprebolna
Ima jedna modra rijeka
Ima jedna modra rijeka –
Valja nama preko rijeke
None can say where it is found
We know little but ’tis known
Beyond mountain, beyond valley
Beyond seven, beyond eight
And still sadder and still madder
Over weary, over bitter
Over hawthorn, over thornbush
Over drought and over hindrance
Over dread and over doubt
Beyond nine and beyond ten
There below beneath the earth
Over yonder beneath the sky
And still deeper and still fiercer
Beyond silence, beyond nightfall
Where the roosters do not crow
And the horn’s voice is unknown
And still sadder and still madder
Beyond mind and beyond God
For there is a dark blue river
It is broad and it is deep
It is broad one hundred years
A thousand summers is its depth
And its length not to be thought
Murk and darkness unrelenting
For there is a dark blue river
For there is a dark blue river
And that river we must cross
© Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar
Translated by Wayles Browne – © 2007 Wayles Browne
Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar
Mehmedalija “Mak” Dizdar ( 17 October 1917 – 16 July 1971) was one of the greatest poets of the 2nd half of the 20th century.
Mak Dizdar was born and completed elementary school in Stolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1936, Dizdar relocated to Sarajevo where he attended and graduated from the Gymnasium. Dizdar spent his World War II years as a supporter of the Communist Partisans. He moved frequently from place to place in order to avoid the NDH authorities’ attention.
After the war, Dizdar was a prominent figure in the cultural life of Bosnia and Herzegovina, working as the editor-in-chief of the daily Oslobođenje (Liberation). He served as head of a few state-sponsored publishing houses and eventually became a professional writer and the President of the Writers’ Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a post he held until his death.